Sure Clinton Should Stay in the Race, Rush Limbaugh Says

(CNSNews.com) - Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh says the ultimate goal of his Operation Chaos is "Democrats losing in November."

To get to that point, he's issued "orders" to loyal listeners of his radio program, telling them in recent weeks to switch sides, if possible, and cast ballots for Sen. Hillary Clinton in various primaries -- just to keep Clinton in the bruising Democratic race.

The point of Operation Chaos is not to support Clinton, but to undermine Obama, Limbaugh says. On Thursday, he told Fox News that Clinton should stay in the race and insist that delegates from Florida and Michigan be counted.

"If she's smart, she will say that the Democratic Party is engaged in the greatest disenfranchisement of voters since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. If she's smart, she will say that the only way Barack Obama can get the Democrat Party nomination is if the Democrats do not count all the votes. And she can extend this for as long as she wants...," Limbaugh said.

In fact, Clinton herself is now using the word "disenfranchise."

"I'll continue to emphasize and stress that we cannot disenfranchise those voters (in Michigan and Florida) and I hope we'll have a resolution," she said on Wednesday.

The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida and Michigan of their delegates when those two states bucked the party's wishes and moved their nominating contests up to January. Obama's name didn't even appear on the Michigan ballot.

Clinton says the nomination won't be valid without the participation of voters in those two large states. Given the close nominating contest, the exclusion of Michigan and Florida has turned into a huge headache for the Democratic Party.

More chaos

By pressing Clinton to scream "disenfranchisement," Limbaugh is staying true to his "chaos" theme.

Limbaugh noted on Thursday that he told everyone in advance what he intended to do with Operation Chaos -- and how they could stop it.

"I advised the Obama campaign, look, if you guys want to shut this down, all you have to do is acknowledge it -- and simply say that a number of Mrs. Clinton's votes are tainted because they come from people who actually have no intention of voting for her in November."

But the Obama campaign didn't take the advice until Clinton narrowly won the Indiana primary on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, said that Clinton won with the help of Republican voters who responded to "the urging of Rush Limbaugh." (See related story)

Limbaugh called that acknowledgement "a very smart political move on the part of the Obama campaign."

Operation Chaos stemmed from a perceived failure on the part of Republicans.

Limbaugh says he hatched the plan because Republican presidential candidate John McCain -- and the Republican Party -- were so reluctant to criticize Obama, who was being treated like a "messiah." Limbaugh decided there was only one person who could beat up Obama politically -- and that was Sen. Clinton.

"Operation Chaos thus was born to keep Mrs. Clinton in the race, and it worked. Obama has been bloodied," Limbaugh said Wednesday on his radio program.

Limbaugh has now urged Democrat superdelegates to side with Obama -- because "he will lose" the general election. At the same time, he's urging Sen. Clinton not to drop out of the race -- "because the chaos...is not over."

"The chaos will continue," Limbaugh promised on Wednesday. "We have been successful beyond our wildest dreams. We have created a bloodied Obama via our vessel of the Clinton campaign because the McCain campaign and the Republican Party refuse to do so. Obama is no longer the messiah," he said.